Screenshot OCR
SnipVault vs TextSniper for Mac
Weighing up the TextSniper app for Mac? Here is how it compares with SnipVault, feature by feature. TextSniper is the single-purpose Mac OCR utility: press a hotkey, drag a rectangle, and the text is on your clipboard. It is cheap and fast, but keeps no searchable history and does nothing else.
Prices and features verified 2026-09-04. Corrections: diljit@dprsoftwarelabs.com.
TextSniper pricing
$7.99 once
$7.99 for one Mac, $9.99 for three, unlimited licence via the Mac App Store. 7-day money-back guarantee. Also on Setapp and frequently on AppSumo.
sourceSnipVault pricing
$29.99/yr or $79 once
Also $2.49/month. 7-day free trial, no card.
Platforms
TextSniper: Mac (macOS 10.15+)
SnipVault: macOS 13+, Apple Silicon and Intel
Feature by feature
What you get with each
| Feature | SnipVault | TextSniper |
|---|---|---|
Screenshot OCR (region → text) | ✓ | ✓ |
OCR captures kept searchable (text + image) TextSniper shows recent captures only; nothing is searchable. | ✓ | — |
QR / barcode decode | ✓ | ✓ |
Text-to-speech | — | ✓ |
Intel and Apple Silicon Macs | ✓ | ✓ |
Clipboard history | ✓ | — |
Unlimited history | ✓ | — |
Full-text search | ✓ | — |
Pinboards / collections + tags | ✓ | — |
Snippets with :keyword expansion | ✓ | — |
OTP / card-number auto-expiry | ✓ | — |
Works fully offline, on-device | ✓ | ✓ |
Sync between Macs SnipVault: iCloud sync in the iCloud-entitled build; secrets stay device-local. | Partial | — |
One-time purchase available | ✓ | ✓ |
Free tier / open source TextSniper has no trial without a card; SnipVault's 7-day trial needs no card. | — | — |
| Price | $29.99/yr or $79 once | $7.99 once |
Strengths
Where TextSniper is strong, and where SnipVault is
TextSniper does well
- •Fastest possible capture-to-clipboard loop
- •Very cheap one-time price
- •QR and barcode reading plus text-to-speech
- •Works on Intel Macs where Live Text does not
SnipVault does well
- •Every OCR capture is kept with its screenshot and is full-text searchable forever
- •Clipboard history and snippets in the same app
- •Pinboards and tags to file captures
- •Secret auto-expiry when you snip a one-time code or card number
What users say
Common complaints about TextSniper
Quoted from public reviews and forums. Follow the links for full context.
“No advanced editing or history features.”
“Rotated text sometimes causes line swaps… There's no facility to provide feedback about recognition within the app.”
“Disappointed I can't get the trial without entering a credit card number.”
Verdict
Which one should you pick?
Pick TextSniper if…
- •You only ever need OCR to the clipboard and nothing kept
- •You want text-to-speech of recognised text
- •You want to spend $8 and be done
Pick SnipVault if…
- •You want to find that error message or invoice you snipped last month
- •You also want a clipboard manager and snippets
- •You want the source screenshot kept alongside the text
FAQ
SnipVault vs TextSniper: questions
Is SnipVault's OCR as accurate as TextSniper's?+
Both use Apple's on-device Vision framework, so recognition quality is the same. SnipVault keeps the result, the screenshot, the source app, and the time, and lets you search all of it.
Does SnipVault use the same shortcut as TextSniper?+
Yes, ⇧⌘2 by default, and it is remappable.
How much does TextSniper cost?+
TextSniper is $7.99 once. $7.99 for one Mac, $9.99 for three, unlimited licence via the Mac App Store. 7-day money-back guarantee. Also on Setapp and frequently on AppSumo. SnipVault is $2.49 a month, $29.99 a year, or $79 once, and every plan has every feature.
What platforms does TextSniper run on?+
TextSniper: Mac (macOS 10.15+). SnipVault runs on macOS 13 or later, on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, and one licence covers up to three Macs.
Can I try SnipVault before switching?+
Yes. SnipVault has a 7-day trial of the complete app with no card, and you can keep TextSniper running alongside it until you are sure.
Try SnipVault next to TextSniper
Keep both installed for a week. If SnipVault does not replace it, nothing was charged.